Scott Wilson is an international consultancy providing a comprehensive range of integrated planning, management, engineering and environmental services in the built and natural environments through the world.

The company's headquarters has been in Basingstoke since 1974, employing more than 350 staff.

A further 32 offices throughout the UK employ 1,700 staff, with a total of 3,300 employees worldwide.

The centrepiece of the company's entry for the Bond Pearce Innovation Award is the 165 metre-high Spinnaker Tower taking shape at Gunwharf Quay, Portsmouth as part of the £86m Renaissance project for Portsmouth City Council.

Once completed in summer 2004, it will be the tallest publicly accessible, self-supporting structure in the UK outside London.

Scott Wilson is the design and build lead consultant and structural engineer on the tower, working for Mowlem, the main contractor.

The unique structure of the tower, and its prominent position at the entrance to the harbour, required an enormous amount of research and development, much of which is expected to have a commercial application.

Bond Pearce partner David D'Arcy Hughes said: "The Spinnaker Tower is the result of considerable research and development by an extremely innovative and experienced design team at Scott Wilson.

"It is easy to under-estimate the huge innovations which go into the design and construction of something of this size, and the tower's natural elegance will be testimony to Scott Wilson's skill in finding innovative solutions to the challenges set by its many and varied clients."

As well as the Spinnaker Tower, Scott Wilson's entry for the Innovation Award includes the use of a pedestrian simulation modelling package, and a Geographic Information System that integrates digital data from a range of sources to analyse potential constraints on development projects.

Applications include site searches for the location of new motorways and airports.